County Four-Drive – specifications
Built: 1954-1958 · Series: Other models
Data for the version built 1954-1958 · Data origin: Reference work (Wikipedia/Wikibooks), Directory data · sources
Successor: Super-4 →
More machines from model year 1954
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The County Four-Drive is an all-wheel-drive tractor from the British maker County, built from 1954 to 1958 in England. It was the first County tractor with four equal-sized wheels and was based on the Fordson Major: County used the diesel Fordson Major as its base unit, in principle a crawler on which rubber tyres replaced the tracks.
Drive goes to all four wheels, which the register lists as all-wheel drive. Steering followed the crawler principle: tall levers brake the wheels on one side so the tyres skid round the turn. The engine is a water-cooled diesel. The Four-Drive was designed for the sugar cane industry, where trailers carrying large quantities of cane had to be hauled from the farms to the processors in the West Indies.
The successor is the County Super-4 of 1961, based on the Fordson Super Major; there the drive to the front axle runs through shafts on each side of the frame.
County Four-Drive (1954–1958) – British four-wheel-drive machine from the farm- and construction-equipment maker County, with a water-cooled diesel engine and the County Super-4 as its successor
County was an English manufacturer that built tractors and machines derived from them with permanent four-wheel drive, at a time when most comparable machines drove only the rear wheels. The Four-Drive recorded here was built from 1954 to 1958, placing it in an early phase of this four-wheel-drive technology before the company developed the range into the County Super-4.
Read on 3 more paragraphs
The Four-Drive is powered by a water-cooled diesel engine whose output reaches the ground through a drivetrain with four driven wheels (4WD). This permanent four-wheel drive was the key difference from the standard two-wheel-drive machines of the period, and the reason County machines could develop extra traction on difficult ground.
The four-wheel drive made the Four-Drive suited to tasks where simple two-wheel-drive machines reached their limits: on loose, wet or uneven ground on building sites and farmland, where the added grip of the front wheels reduced wheel-slip and soil compaction. Its succession by the County Super-4 shows that the company pursued this drive concept consistently.
On such an old four-wheel-drive machine, the condition of the transfer case and the drive shafts to the front axle matters most, since these components are placed under particular strain by permanent four-wheel drive. The engine, cooling system and axle seals should be checked for leaks, and spare parts for such a rare range, discontinued decades ago, can practically only be sourced through collectors or custom remanufacture.
Sources: SpecCodex-Register: Kennwerte des Modells County Four-Drive
Technical data
Engine
| Fuel | dieselcorrect |
|---|---|
| Cooling | water-cooledcorrect |
Drivetrain and chassis
| Drive | four-wheel driveWDcorrect |
|---|
Origin and approval
| Plant | Englandcorrect |
|---|
Other data
| Successor | County Super-4correct |
|---|
Frequently asked questions
When was the County Four-Drive built?
Production years: 1954-1958.
What to check before buying
- Check the hour meter against the service records — a replaced instrument is the most common gap.
- Compare the data plate and chassis number with the papers.
- Load the hydraulics and watch for sag.
- Ask about parts availability for this build year — the running costs hang on it.
A general list for this type of machine — no substitute for an inspection or an appraiser.
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This page carries 7 individual figures for this model. They come from 2 recorded sources; every figure can be traced there. What we cannot document is not here — we leave gaps open rather than estimate them.
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Sources: Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki (CC BY-SA 3.0) (retrieved August 2026) · agriland.ie (retrieved October 2026) · Values adopted and presented in our own form; changes from the source are possible. · Data sources and cross-checks
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